Mona Lisa Smile
by PrairieLily
Summary: My own final extra scene for Hiatus Part 2, as Gibbs turns to leave with Ducky. Gibbs says goodbye to one last team member. Oneshot.


**Mona Lisa Smile**

**Rating**: K

**Pairings**: None

**Disclaimer**: Not my characters. No infringement intended

**Summary**: My own final extra scene for Hiatus Part 2, as Gibbs turns to leave with Ducky. Gibbs says goodbye to one last team member. Oneshot.

* * *

Jimmy Palmer muttered under his breath and cussed himself out silently for forgetting his keys yet again. He'd made it all the way out to his car when he discovered that he was locked out of his ride.

As he stood in the elevator, watching the progress of the ascent in the flashing numbers above his eye level, he stepped forward at the moment he knew the doors would open, and nearly bowled right into Agent Gibbs and Dr. Mallard.

Jimmy stopped cold, green eyes growing wide.

Agent Gibbs was in scrubs. But wait – shouldn't he be in the hospital? The man had very nearly been blown against a wall and shredded to death by shrapnel. He'd been in a coma that nobody could explain. He'd forgotten the last 15 years of his life, for crying out loud. Why the hell was he at the Navy Yard?

"Oh, I'm sorry Agent Gibbs, Doctor," he said, hastily apologizing. The two older men stood, making no motions to move aside, looking up at Jimmy's increasingly confused expression.

"It's just Gibbs now, Jimmy," Gibbs said, smiling softly and reaching out to squeeze Jimmy's shoulder, briefly.

Jimmy nodded and frowned slightly, still confused, and said weakly, "Yes, Sir."

Gibbs shook his head and chuckled so quietly it was almost a whisper. "Don't call me Sir, Jimmy. You didn't owe me that professional courtesy before and you sure as hell don't now."

"What's going on?" the young man finally managed to ask. Once again, Gibbs simply smiled. Jimmy glanced at his own boss and mentor, receiving only a sad smile of resignation and acceptance in return.

"Follow Ducky, Mr. Palmer. He'll lead you to where you need to be. And don't let Tony get away with calling you Autopsy Gremlin. You deserve far more respect than that, don't you forget that."

Jimmy nodded, glancing a second time at Ducky, who still held the same mysterious expression. "I understand Ag… uh… Gibbs." He smiled as warmly as he could given the fact that he still wasn't sure what was going on, and stepped aside to allow the two older men passage to the elevator. Ducky turned briefly and said, "I'll see you in the morning, Mr. Palmer. Pleasant dreams, dear fellow."

Jimmy nodded in acknowledgement at his boss as the elevator doors closed, and walked cautiously into the squad room. He was met with a group of people who were still clearly stunned into silence.

Glancing up at the upper level that led to MTAC, he saw Director Shepard standing, as if her feet were bolted to the spot. She looked as if she had no idea what to say or do next.

He turned to Tony, and watched as the Senior Agent stared down in disbelief at what was in his hands. At more critical inspection, Jimmy realized that it was a weapon and a badge. Tony looked like he had no idea what to do with it, and wasn't entirely sure that he wanted to be in possession of the items in the first place.

Next he glanced at McGee, who looked like a guy who was learning to be tough, and had just had a slight relapse into a sensitive moment. He heard Tim clear his throat and sniff slightly, almost imperceptibly. The green eyes blinked a couple of times, and glanced briefly at Jimmy before turning to sit down quietly at his desk.

He looked at Abby and his heart nearly cracked in two. Her darkly made up eyes were brimming with tears that she was valiantly fighting to keep from falling. She looked like a little girl who had just lost her daddy. Well, Jimmy realized, in a sense, she was. She and Gibbs had a special relationship, and it came nowhere near that rule that Gibbs had discouraging fraternization between co-workers.

He turned and walked over to Ziva, who seemed the most together of the entire group that stood in stunned silence. He judged her to be the one most likely to be able to give him a coherent answer to his question.

"Ziva, what's going on? I just had the weirdest encounter in the elevator with Gibbs and Dr. Mallard." Jimmy asked her, still glancing around at the people in the squad room, trying to decipher what had just happened.

"He's gone, Jimmy," she said, shrugging. "Gibbs has resigned." She smiled as one who knew somehow that they had not seen the last of Gibbs.

Jimmy knew Ziva better than anyone there suspected. Their visits and dinners, the evenings he'd spent working on her piano, had all resulted in a blossoming friendship. That, in turn, had resulted in Jimmy developing a knack for deciphering their Mossad Officer's sometimes enigmatic expressions and mannerisms.

He knew, therefore, simply by the look in her dark eyes, and the Mona Lisa smile that graced her face, that they had most definitely not seen the last of Leroy Jethro Gibbs.


End file.
